The coronavirus pandemic has affected more than 46 million people worldwide and still causing new infections daily. The pandemic has brought unprecedented impact to trade, lifestyles, and especially the use of buildings. As we struggle to understand coronavirus transmission and corresponding risks and mitigations in buildings, many buildings from schools, offices, commercial and public facilities were shut down for months. Even as we gradually reopen buildings and resume economic activity, defining confident policies and protocols for a safe environment remains a challenging task.

Since the coronavirus outbreak, there is much public focus on the human health impact of built environments. Air safety, water quality, ergonomic and design for fitness, environmental stressors such as acoustics, lighting, and thermal comfort, and mental wellness support such as access to nature have been much discussed and examined, along with emergency response capabilities. The public discourse largely revolves around effective measures that minimizes epidemic risks and maximizes healthy lifestyles.

 
As a market and thought leader in sustainable and healthy buildings, EMSI has been active since the outbreak started to research and collate best practices that supports safe and healthy buildings in this new normal. On 24 Sep 2020, EMSI conducted a seminar on "Green and Healthy Building Development Trends in the Post-Pandemic Era" with standards and industry experts.

Xun Wang, office director of Shanghai Green Building Council, shared "The Latest Development Trend of Green and Healthy Buildings in Shanghai"

Chenbo Xu, head of marketing transformation & development department of USGBI & GBCI China, shared "The Latest Development Trend of LEED Green Building"


 

Robert Wu, senior director of IWBI Asia, shared "The Latest Development Trend of WELL Health Building"
 
Based on their recent data and case study, experts from Shanghai Green Building Council, USGBC and IWBI described the development trend of the building industry affected by the epidemic situation, as well as the changes in the green and healthy building standards.

Hao Zhou, EMSI technical expert shared "Key Points about Air Distribution and Air Conditioner after Epidemic"
 
Hao Zhou, an EMSI technical expert, shared his research findings using CFD simulations to characterize transmission risks in air-conditioned offices and how to minimize such risks via design optimization.


 

Jun Zhang, EMSI field engineering expert shared “Building Audit after Epidemic”
 
Jun Zhang, EMSI field engineering expert, discussed the changing role of building audits post-Covid. Pre-Covid, the role of building audits was to manage energy costs and operational risks, but now the perspective of risk has expanded to a broader safe, reliable and healthy environment. Safe and healthy environments as a theme has been observed to be a driving factor for upgrading buildings.

EMSI is committed to provide green and healthy building consultancy services to help clients achieve livable, valuable, and responsible buildings and communities across Asia Pacific. Our efforts in research, computational modeling, project management, field engineering, and most importantly engagement with partners and stakeholders in the building industry continues to help us realize high quality sustainable and human-centric design solutions.